The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, November 24, 1942. GROWTH OF CONFIDENCE.

Grey River Argus, 24 November 1942, Page 4

The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, November 24, 1942. GROWTH OF CONFIDENCE.

The trend of war news continues to he a record of changes from defensive to offensive action I on the part of the Allied forces almost generally. This is, of course, lin itself .a temptation to imagine that in being placed on the de--1 fensive the Axis Powers have done their worst, and that they 'now are in process of being de•foated. Yet it would be hard to find any authoritative Allied 'spokesman disposed to fix any {term to the duration of hostilities, and it must be admitted that in the Northern Hemisphere, the enemy naturally must now adapt his campaign to seasonal as well as strategical changes, as to his ability to cope with which judg- ' ment must be reserved until the nature of his new dispositions is ascertained. One American coniI mciitator, for instance, has said that unless the Axis (attempts to outflank the Allies in North Africa, from both Spain and Turkey, it will be a sign that Axis strength is falling- short of the new necessities iof the Avar. On the other

• hand, the most important strategical positions in the Mediterranean as yet remain in Axis possession, and to utilise these might be more advistable than to use forces on vast flanking' movements in the hope of diverting Allied attack in North Africa. It would scarcely have that effect, and the best criterion of things may well be the extent to which Allied forces approach or enter Sicily. The Russians are now playing up to the African initiative, having attacked on both sides of Stalingrad, and also repelled the enemy’s drive at the. oilfields of Grozny. The Germans evidently cannot count upon being allowed any better' field quartering in Russia this winter than they were able to get last winter. It is, however, too soon to count upon their being forced, back there to any great extent. The Allied air raids in Italy and Germany now are increasingly to

lie reckoned a ■ counter -to the

U-boat campaign by. which the Germans are placing, great store, and which certainly remains a thorn in the side of the United Nations. Allowing for the favourable indications elsewhere, it is ip the Pacific, however, that there has J'atterly been the most rapid change for the better: If the Americans are right in their calculations, the Japanese are beginning to lose their sea grip, and they at the same time are putting up in the air a poorer show than was to have been expected. The United Spates had to make up its mind quickly as to what was to be done when the Japanese had matters so much their own way, The result was the despatch in this direction of forces which have proven equal to holding the fort in the South-western Pacific, where the Australians, supported by the United States land forces, now have the enemy almost at their mercy in Papua. It now is an occasion when the Japanese have to make their minds up as to the next step. They cither must risk larger forces than ever, although the odds against them are’ greater 1 than before, or they must go upon the defensive as definitely Jas the other Axis Powers are doing. 'Whatever seasaw the war yet may' have to show, the balance now is tipping as adversely for the'; enemy as. it formerly tipped favourably for him. It is not without significance that the exit from the British War Cabinet of Sir Stafford Cripps should by'“The Times” be connected with the question of the formulation of a peace policy as will the completion of a -war policy. The Germans betray growing distrust of peoples whose territory they occupy, and the time might not be' distant when it will be sound policy* to define with greater accuracy and completeness the Allied peace plans. At anyrate, it ought to be time for the Allies to formulate such plans. There is no reason to imagine that they might,not be such as to commend themselves to all except the-enemy Powers. The action of the FTench in North Africa has been very sig' nificant, and it must bo assumed that they have been convinced their country has all io gain and nothing to lose by the success of Allied arms. The situation .as a whole is one which is still calculated to involve sacrifices,, no less than those already made in. withstanding aggression, but it has the great modification that there remains no longer much doubt that they will not be made hi vain.